


Chance Encounter

by sharpiesgal (TigerLily)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, Clint Needs a Hug, M/M, Phil Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/pseuds/sharpiesgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint has just went through a nasty divorce and his friends feel he needs to get back on the horse so to speak, so they convince him to spend his vacation at a kids retreat that happens to be very close to where another friend, Phil, is hiding from the world. Essentially, their friends are yentas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lasairfhiona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/gifts).



Clint was putting the finishing touches on his latest culinary masterpiece when he heard the front door of the apartment he occasionally shared with Natasha open and close with uncharacteristic force. Natasha wasn’t a door slammer. She had other ways of dealing with her anger and frustration which Clint rarely thought about since he didn’t want to end up on her bad side, so that meant he was getting a visit from SHIELD’s resident mad scientist and Natasha’s current boyfriend, Tony Stark.

What his friend saw in the mad genius Clint didn’t know and didn’t want to contemplate, but as long as the man treated her right Clint would tolerate the strange relationship.

“Barton,” Tony growled as he stalked into the kitchen. “You are putting a crimp in my style.”

“You are getting fed and laid on a regular basis, so how is that putting a crimp in your style, Stark?” Clint countered with a hint of sarcasm coloring his voice. He didn’t bother to look at the other man as he returned the pork roast to the oven to bake a few minutes longer.

“Not that we don’t appreciate the culinary world tour,” Tony began as he searched for the words that would get his point across and not hurt Clint’s feelings anymore than they had been.

“But?”

“But we need a vacation from you and your endless moping,” Tony replied hoping he didn’t sound like a complete asshole.

“Are you serious?” Clint muttered in annoyance. “I get caught watching one chick flick and I’m being accused of moping.”

“It was a whole marathon, bird brain.”

“So?”

“So, what Tony was trying to say and failing,” Natasha began to explain as she joined the conversation having quietly entered the apartment as the two men had unintentionally squared off against each other across the neatly set kitchen table. “Is that while we appreciate your cooking we need a break from each other.”

“Is this because you feel that I’m “moping” over Kate?” Clint inquired while making air quotes around the word moping as he ignored the glare Tony shot him.

“Aren’t you?” Natasha gently countered. She knew that Clint’s latest attempt at matrimony had been disastrous to say the least, but she had hoped he hadn’t been reduced to a caricature of the jilted housewife.

“No,” Clint answered not wanting to admit that he was still hurting. Kate Bishop had made their brief marriage a living hell, and Clint’s pride was still smarting because of his inability to see past a pretty face.

“Bullshit!” Tony snapped reminding the two friends that he was still in the room.

“Tony,” Natasha softly chided.

“Right,” Tony sighed. He knew when he was out of his depth, which was most of the time when it came to interpersonal communications. “I’ll go see if Jarvis is finished with my calculations.” He brushed a kiss against Natasha’s cheek and left the room.

“I still don’t know what you see in him,” Clint remarked once he and Natasha were alone. “And, please for my sanity’s sake, don’t say it’s because he’s good in bed.”

“Am I one to talk about my conquests?”

Reminding Natasha about Budapest wouldn’t be in his best interests, so Clint shook his head and changed the subject by admitting, “Maybe, I have been moping a bit.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Stop crimping Tony’s style by getting out of your hair by going someplace else to fritter away my endless amount of vacation time,” Clint suggested as he began to run through the number of places he would be happy to while away time as he waited for Fury to give him another assignment.

“Tony actually said that?”

“He did.”

“I’ll kill him later, but first take a look at the perfect place I have in mind for the rest of your vacation,” Natasha said as she pulled a colored brochure from her pocket. She set it down on the table in front of Clint.

“No,” Clint firmly replied. “The last place you suggested was an assassin’s retreat and I was forced to play hide and seek with the Winter Soldier.”

“C’est la vie,” Natasha said with a shrug.

“Maybe for you,” Clint muttered as he scooped up the brochure intending to give it back.  
“But, not for me. I’m a low level spy with a good aim.”

“You are a lot more than your skill set,” Natasha countered feeling the need to renege on her promise not to kill Kate for demoralizing Clint.

“Let’s agree to disagree on that point for the moment, shall we,” Clint suggested since he was getting tired of Natasha’s attempts at being a life coach. “I’ll take a look at this after dinner.”

“Alright,” Natasha conceded. She knew when not to push Clint into doing something he didn’t want to do. “I’ll go see if Tony is ready to eat while you make certain that you didn’t burn the roast.”

“Away with you, woman,” Clint grumbled as he pocketed the brochure before going to check on the roast.

Natasha softly chuckled and left the kitchen content in the knowledge that her friend was on the road to recovering everything Kate Bishop had been hell bent on destroying.

*&*&*

Clint curled his toes in the wet sand as the tide went out and tried to pull him out to sea with it. He drew in a deep breath of sea air allowing the salty tang to tickle the back of his throat before releasing it as a loud swoosh. 

He could feel himself finally relax after months of being on edge and he silently thanked Natasha for talking him into coming to the kids retreat advertised in the brochure she had given him days before. 

He hadn’t expected to be asked to fill in as an instructor since he had signed up to be a counselor, but was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to work closer with the kids. He knew what it meant to grow up in the foster care system trying to overcome the disadvantages that were inherent in the system.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Clint agreed as he turned to see who had managed to sneak up on him. He thought he was alone and had let his guard down, and now he was trying to swallow his heart and not look like an idiot doing so.

“My name is Phil and I didn’t mean to startle you,” the other man said in way of an introduction.

“That’s okay. I kinda got lost in my thoughts,” Clint answered with a shy grin. “My name is Clint, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Phil said with a smile of his own. “Are you here for the kids retreat?”

“Yeah,” Clint admitted with a hint of chagrin in his voice. “My best friend talked me into it since I was spending too much time moping around our apartment and crimping her boyfriend’s style. Are you here for it to?”

Phil chuckled at Clint’s explanation. “No, I run one of the B and Bs.”

“Which one?”

“The Salty Duck.”

“Now, there’s a coincidence.”

“Oh?”

“That’s the one I’m staying at,” Clint replied. “I was late in signing up for the retreat so their place was completely booked. It works better this way since I’m not one for large groups in small spaces.”

“I can relate.”

“Ex-military?”

“That obvious?”

“Only to those who know what to look for.”

“And you?”

“Two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.”

“Commendable.”

“Thanks, I think,” Clint mumbled not use to being praised for his actions.

“What do you do now?” Phil asked instinctively knowing that a change in subject was needed. This skill was what made him a good leader and an even better inn keeper.

“I teach archery and other survival skills at a private academy,” Clint quickly replied latching onto the change of subject with an inward sigh of relief.

“Which is code for working for a super secret agency,” Phil remarked with his tongue firmly in his cheek. He knew a cover story when he heard one.

“Is it?” Clint softly countered. He was beginning to like Phil and didn’t want to have to kill him if he didn’t have to.

“Yes,” Phil answered undeterred. One day his curiosity would be his downfall, but that day was far off, or so he liked to think. “Which one?”

“If I told you that, I would have to kill you and I rather not disturb my partner on her long overdue vacation,” Clint explained instinctively knowing that Phil would give him a workout before giving into the inevitable.

“It must be SHIELD.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Only people who work for Nick Fury say things like that,” Phil reasoned with a smirk. He knew Nick would find a place for himself in the intelligence community after having his brilliant military career cut short by a roadside bomb that cost him his left eye.

“Know him, do you?”

“We served in the same unit.”

“That dirty rotten son of a bitch!” Clint swore as he considered flying back to New York and confronting his manipulating boss, Natasha and whoever else they roped into their plan to kick start his life.

“He has been called worse,” Phil admitted with a wry chuckle.

“By you?”

“Over the years, yes.”

“I can believe that,” Clint muttered. “So what did he do? Ask you to keep an eye on me?”

“Yes, but I told him I didn’t work for him anymore and that you were your own man. You didn’t need nor want a babysitter while you worked on getting your head back on straight,” Phil honestly answered. He had too much stuff on his plate to look out for a man recovering from a hellish marriage and an equally messy divorce.

“You got that much right,” Clint firmly agreed. “So this was a chance encounter or a planned one?”

“It was a chance encounter,” Phil quietly concurred. He hadn’t planned on seeking Clint out. He had gone for a walk to clear his head and stumbled upon Clint doing the same thing. “And if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.”

Clint nodded feeling a tad chagrined for being so churlish with Phil. He had only just met the man and figured he had ruined any chance of them developing a friendship.

“If you feel uncomfortable staying at my place, I can always call around to find you suitable accommodations elsewhere,” Phil offered not wanting to make Clint’s time on Sullivan’s Island anymore awkward than it already had become.

“That won’t be necessary,” Clint quickly reassured Phil. “I like your place, and now that we know where we stand with each other, things should go smoothly.”

“Agreed,” Phil said with a reserved smile. “Have a good day and remember I lock up around eleven p.m.”

“Been awhile since I had a curfew,” Clint admitted biting back on his desire to tease Phil about it. “But, I’ll be there on time.”

“I hope so, because I shoot first and ask questions later.”

“Good to know,” Clint said with a wry chuckle. “Have a good day, Phil.”

Phil nodded and left heading back the way he came.

*&*&*&

Clint settled onto the four poster bed with a jaw cracking yawn. It had been a busy day once he arrived back at the retreat. He had forgotten had exhausting it could be trying to keep up with kids.

Fortunately, his time spent in the circus stood him in good stead and he had quickly become the kids’ favorite instructor.

His cell phone chose that moment to ring and he let out a loud groan as he shifted to grab it off the nightstand silently vowing that he would slowly gut the person on the other end if it wasn’t an earth shattering emergency. “Hello,” he mumbled.

“Clint?”

“Yes, Tasha, it’s me,” Clint answered as he settled back on the plush bed thinking he would write Phil a glowing review just for the bed alone once he got back to New York.

“Are you alright?” Natasha asked with concern. “You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I’m fine,” Clint quietly reassured her. “I’m just tired since I had a really busy day.”

“You were always a sucker for kids.”

“And you aren’t?” Clint countered knowing Natasha was like him in that she would bend over backwards when it came to kids needing help or a guiding influence.

“I didn’t call to have a battle of wits with you.”

“Of course you didn’t.”

“Can you stop being exasperating for one moment,” Natasha muttered ready to reach through the phone and throttle him.

“I’m doing fine,” he reassured her again. “And you can tell Nick his attempt at matchmaking backfired.”

“So you met Phil,” Natasha quickly surmised.

“I did.”

“And?”

“He’s a nice guy that I wouldn’t have minded getting to know better.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“The fact that you and Nick decided to use him as my babysitter because you both think I’m not capable of taking care of myself should something or someone unexpected turn up,” Clint replied not bothering to hide the bitterness he felt at being manipulated by people he considered his friends.

“You are a born trouble magnet,” Natasha reminded him. “And it’s our prerogative to keep you in one piece anyway we can.”

“Feeling the love, Tasha,” Clint grumbled. “Really feeling the love.”

“I do love you, my friend,” Natasha said in all seriousness. “So just humor me and get to know Phil better.”

“Don’t I always humor you?”

“Budapest comes to mind.”

“I thought we agreed to never speak about that mission.”

“Did we?” she softly accused.

“You know we damn well did, Tasha,” Clint bluntly reminded her. “I’m not responsible for the fact that Tony likes to needle you about it. That is all his doing.”

“I’m sorry,” Natasha apologized. She hadn’t called Clint to get into an argument with him. She just wanted to make certain that he was doing okay.

“Apology accepted.”

“I’m going to let you go so you can get your beauty sleep. God knows you need it.”

“Bite me,” Clint gently retorted letting Natasha know that she was truly forgiven for being such a yenta.

“Good night.”

“Night, Tasha,” Clint replied and then ended the call. He set his phone back on the night stand and then settled deeper into the bed. He closed his eyes was asleep in minutes.

*&*&*&

Clint wandered downstairs in search of a strong cup of coffee before he headed off for his second day at the kids retreat. He had slept the night through with no nightmares disturbing his badly needed rest. His body was still feeling achy in places, but there was a bounce in his step since he was beginning to feel like his old self.

He paused in the doorway of the dinning room with his pack hanging off one shoulder when he saw Phil seated at one of the tables drinking coffee and reading the morning paper.

“You can stop loitering in the doorway, Clint,” Phil said not bothering to look up from the article he was reading.

“Have you always been able to do that?” Clint inquired as he entered the room and headed for the breakfast bar.

“Yes,” Phil replied as he finally looked up with a welcoming smile. Growing up with four sisters and years in the army had honed his ability to know when he wasn’t alone and to deduce who was trying to sneak up on him; intentionally or unintentionally as the case may be. “And, you can join me. I promise I won’t bite.”

Clint chuckled at that last bit thinking he wouldn’t mind finding out if Phil was really a biter or not when it came to sex. He poured himself a cup of coffee and slid into the chair across from Phil depositing his pack in the empty chair next to him. “That’s a scary skill to have. Are you certain you weren’t a nanny in another life?”

“Aren’t most sergeants?” Phil quietly countered as he folded his paper and set it aside. He would finish reading it later.

“Good point,” Clint agreed with a grin. He reached across and snagged the last piece of bacon off Phil’s discarded plate. He bit into it and let out a pleased moan.

“Hey, now,” Phil exclaimed in mild surprise.

“What?”

“I could have been saving that for later.”

“Were you?”

“Not really.”

“I’m sorry. I should have asked.”

“It’s alright.”

Clint nodded. He finished his coffee, grabbed his pack and got up to leave. He needed to get over to the retreat before the kids were finished with breakfast. It was going to be another busy and fun-filled day.

“You need more than a single cup of coffee and a piece of bacon if you plan on keeping up with a pack of overactive children,” Phil softly admonished stopping Clint in his tracks.

“I’m not a big breakfast eater,” Clint explained determined to ignore the warm and fuzzy feeling he got when somebody cared enough to worry about his poor eating habits. That was how Kate had gotten past his iron defenses, and he would be paying for that mistake for some time to come. “Besides, I’ve got a couple of energy bars in my pack to see me through to lunchtime.”

“Are you certain?” Phil asked as he stood up as well and began to clear off the table. “I can go throw something together for you.”

“I’m good, and thank you.”

“Okay. You have a good day then,” Phil said as he turned with their dirty dishes and headed toward the kitchen.

Clint followed Phil into the kitchen and blurted out, “Have dinner with me,” since he didn’t want to end their second conversation on a sour note.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Phil inquired once he had the dishes loaded into the dishwasher.

“It’s more like an apology for my churlish behavior,” Clint quickly explained. “I don’t act like an asshole around people I just met unless they are trying to kill me.”

“It was an understandable reaction,” Phil remarked. He was sorely tempted to kick Nick Fury’s ass the next time he saw him. “I would have reacted the same way.”

“Yeah,” Clint softly agreed. “I don’t need enemies with friends like mine.”

“I can relate.”

“So do you want to have dinner with me or not?”

“I will.”

“Sweet,” Clint quietly crowed.

Phil softly chuckled. “Do you have a place in mind?”

“I did some research before I came down here and one of the articles I read highly recommended Shem Creek Bar and Grill,” Clint answered hoping he didn’t sound too much like a geek or a foodie.

“It’s a good place,” Phil said silently pleased to know that Clint took the time to do research about where he was spending his vacation. “I’ve eaten there several times before, and I do recommend it to my guests.”

“What is the best time to go?”

“Sevenish.”

“I can manage that since the kids go to dinner around five and I can be back here at about five-thirty.”

“Sounds good to me then.”

“So it’s a date?”

“I thought it wasn’t going to be one,” Phil retorted in a teasing tone.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Clint good-naturedly grumbled.

“I do, and you better get going before you end up being late.”

“Right,” Clint agreed as pulled his pack higher on his shoulder. “Until later.”

“Until later,” Phil replied and he gave Clint a gentle push toward the backdoor.

Clint took the hint and left eager to get the day over with so he could spend more time getting to know Phil better.

*&*&*&

“I oughta kick your ass back under the rock you just crawled out from under,” Phil calmly said as he regarded his former commanding officer lounging in his battered leather desk chair like it was his personal throne.

“I’m no longer a scared, scrawny assed, second lieutenant fresh out of officer’s training,” Nick Fury quietly countered. “So give it your best shot.”

“Nor am I your sergeant, but that still doesn’t mean that I can’t nor won’t kick your ass.”

“Like I said,” Nick said leaning forward to rest his arms on Phil’s antique desk. “Give it your best shot.”

“What the hell do you want then?”

“World peace.”

“Pull the other one, asshole,” Phil muttered in annoyance. 

“What’s wrong with wanting world peace?” Nick countered in a teasing tone.

“Christ! You are an insufferable bastard!” Phil growled finally letting his temper off its leash. He hated Nick’s mind games when they were in the Army together, and that dislike hadn’t disappeared despite them not having seen each other in the ten years since they had left rehab. He stalked up to his desk and got into Nick’s personal space. “Just tell me what the fuck you want, so I can do it and you can go back to doing whatever the fuck it is you really do!”

“Temper, temper,” Nick gently admonished.

“I’m not in the mood to play games, so get to the point, Marcus,” Phil retorted using Nick’s real name.

“I’ve missed you too, Cheese,” Nick said using his nickname for Phil as he leaned back putting some space between him and Phil. “And my reasoning for being here is to make certain nothing happens to Clint.”

“Short of him getting beat up by a bunch of overactive kids, I don’t think anything untoward is going to happen to him,” Phil reasoned.

“That’s the least of my worries.”

“Trouble magnet?”

“In more ways than one.”

“What else aren’t you telling me?”

“He has a bad habit of falling in love at the drop of a hat.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Phil?”

“He’s only been here, the retreat and the beach,” Phil answered admitting out loud that he had followed Clint after their chance encounter the day before. “So there has been no chance for romantic entanglements.”

“You sly bastard,” Nick murmured.

“I was curious about him, so sue me,” Phil countered. “I wanted to get to know the man our babushka called her best friend.”

“And have you?”

“We’re going out to dinner tonight.”

“That was fast.”

“His idea.”

“So it’s a date?”

“An apology for his overreacting when he figured out what you and Natasha were up to,” Phil explained with a wry grin.

“You told him, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t have to,” Phil answered. “You need to stop thinking of him as just a hired gun with poor taste in romantic partners. He’s got a sharp brain under all that brawn.”

“When was the last time you got laid, Phil?”

“None of your damn business, Marcus,” Phil cautioned. He wasn’t one for casually discussing his sex life.

“Please don’t hurt him.”

“I don’t intend to,” Phil answered. “Now, if you don’t have any other gems of wisdom to impart to me, get your ass out of my chair, so I can get some work done today.”

Nick stood up and walked around the desk. “I really have missed you, Cheese,” he said before leaving.

“Missed you too, you paranoid, one-eyed bastard,” Phil murmured before getting buried under a stack of invoices and other paperwork that came with running a bed and breakfast.

*&*&*&

Clint stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror wondering if he was too casually dressed in a dark purple t-shirt and his less holey pair of jeans. He was on vacation and hadn’t planned on meeting someone he wanted to wine and dine.

A knock on the bedroom door pulled him from his thoughts. He pasted a smile on his face and went to answer it.

*&*&*&

Phil waited in the hallway outside Clint’s room with his hands clasped behind his back as he fought the desire to fidget in restless anticipation.

He looked up from his contemplation of his loafers when he heard the door open and Clint say, “Hello.”

“Hello,” he said in return. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Clint answered. He stepped into the hallway closing and locking the door behind him. “You look nice.”

“So do you.”

“Thank you.”

“Okay,” Phil said before they took a single step down the hall. “I know we established the fact that this wasn’t going to be a date, but I think we need to stop fooling ourselves here.”

Clint nodded in silent agreement.

“In that case do you have any hard and fast rules?”

“I don’t put out on a first date.”

“I don’t either.”

“Now that we got that off the table,” Clint said feeling the butterflies in his stomach settle down. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“Let’s,” Phil agreed. He led them out of the house and onto a night of fresh seafood and mini-golf.

 

The end or is it?


End file.
